Friday
by lewdness
Summary: Their Fridays were special, full of icecream, promises, wishes and dreams. [RikuSoraRiku][oneshot]


A/N For the lovely Carly/Afairysharp who writes some of the sweetest, most awesome RikuSora there is out there and constantly makes my day brighter when I talk to her. Also so many thanks to her for putting up with me for a night and taking me around to all the fun places. 3

Many thanks to Ren, who I don't know if she knows it or not, helped me figure out the direction I wanted this to go, and for putting up with me at the most insane hours when I whined to her about random stuff. :)

--

Carefully counting out all of his money a second time, Riku scooped the extra change back into his paopu shaped bank. He made sure every last coin chinked in at the bottom of it and then took the handful of money left over and dropped it into his pocket, patting it once to hear it clink. The weight in his pocket was familiar and with another quick pat to make sure it wouldn't fall out, he toed on his shoes, pushed his feet in them and wiggling about to make sure they were comfortable.

Checking the time on the blue and green watch fastened around his wrist (Sora and Kairi had gotten it for his tenth birthday just a few months ago, declaring it was two allowances' worth of money so he'd better not lose it) and tramped downstairs. "Friday, mom," he called, making his way past the kitchen where she was making a cake for a dinner party at the mayor's house. Hopefully none of them at the party were hungry and she would bring it back home for him to eat.

"Be careful. Ice cream, Sora's and then home, remember that," she answered, stepping out of the kitchen and waving a spoon at him. Unable to contain his grin, he came back and neatly plucked it out of her hand, licking off the chocolate cake batter with gusto. The older woman ruffled his hair and bent down to give him a kiss on his forehead, catching him unaware and snickering at his utterly horrified face as he wiped off the kiss and thrust the spoon back at her. "Love you too, and have fun, okay?"

Riku rolled his eyes at her but mumbled a quick, "loveyoutoo, jeez" and then rushed out the door so she wouldn't see his blush. The screen door closing behind him, he kicked the sand with each step, sending sprays of it in front of him, only to repeat the motion as he went. The ice-cream parlor was only a five minute walk from his house and then from there a three minute walk to Sora's- something he had timed with his new watch. The owner knew them by name now; she was used to the 'Friday at noon' ritual of one of the boys coming in with their saved-up allowance munny and buying two small containers.

Opening the doors, Riku stepped in with the bright, cheery jingle of the bells pinned to the them and waved back at the old woman who was there every time he came in. "Same old," she asked teasingly, though she already knew that the answer would always be the same. Without waiting for it, she opened the small freezer under the counter and withdrew two small containers of ice-cream, putting them in a bag and dropping two spoons in with them. Carefully he pulled the munny out of his pocket and placed it in her hand, oh-so-proud when he noticed that she didn't even check to see if it was the correct amount when she put it in the register.

"Thanks," he said, taking the bag from her and holding it gingerly in one hand and waving a goodbye to her.

"See you in two weeks, dear. Tell Sora hello for me."

Glancing back he nodded and smiled a little, promising he would and then starting the three minute trek over to Sora's house, kicking the sand up again as he went. Neither of Sora's parents were home during the day, normally. His father worked full time and his mother was a summer-school teacher at their school, which was something that mortified their son to no end because more often than not, she knew before he even did, of something that had happened earlier. Opening the door, he kicked off his shoes by the door and trotted up the stairs to Sora's room.

The boy wasn't on his bed like Riku expected him to be. Instead, he could just barely see a pair of sock-clad feet kicking furiously as the boy struggled with something under his bed. Looking around, Riku noted with vague surprise that the boy's room was actually clean for once. He could see the ground, as the piles of clothes that normally were scattered about were gone. The bedside table was clean of the random things that Sora picked up wherever he went, from bottle caps to shiny rocks.

"Hey," Riku greeted, kicking at one of Sora's feet and wincing when the boy yelped and jerked. A second later he heard the solid crack of his head connecting with the top of his bed and a groan of pain as he slowly crawled out and glared hard at his best friend. "…Sorry about that."

Scowling, Sora stood up, one hand held to the back of his head and swiped the pack of ice-cream with his other, digging out his and then tossing the bag back to his friend. Rolling his eyes so hard it was a wonder they didn't fall out of his head, Riku took his out of the bag as well and pushed Sora over a little on his bed so there was room for both of them. "If I have brain damage I'm never talking to you again," Sora mumbled, curling his feet under him and opening the container, spooning a mouthful up instantly.

"You probably already do," Riku shot back, taking smaller bites and making a face when Sora shoved a huge spoonful in his mouth. "Your mom says it all the time."

Muffled noises of irritation escaped Sora as he glared halfheartedly and tried to talk around the ice-cream in his mouth, giving up after the first few syllables. "She dropped me once!" he finally said, bouncing on the bed as he dug his toes into the sheets to keep them warm. "Doesn't make me brain damaged."

"You almost drowned when you were two," Riku said smugly, spooning more into his mouth and swallowing. "Your brain dies a little when you don't have air and you didn't have air then. It's a wonder you're still-"

A mock war-cry escaped the younger brunet as he leaned over and smacked his shoulder against Riku's frowning. "Shut up, Ri-ku," he moaned, thunking his head on the other boy's shoulder, reaching over and stealing a spoonful of Riku's ice-cream. "Jerk."

Leaning back against the wall, he didn't protest Sora's stealing of his ice-cream and simply looked around the room, noting all the things that were put away for once. This room was just as familiar as his own, or even Kairi's. The three of them spent so much time together that their parents joked they might as well adopt each other. Sora had instantly made a face, declaring that he didn't want to be related, he just wanted to be best friends with them and the other two couldn't help but agree.

-

"Riku's sick," Kairi said with a sigh as she swung back and forth on the pink swing-set in her backyard. Beside her, Sora was hanging upside down, his legs hooked over a bar, cheeks red as the blood rushed to his head. They had both outgrown the play set years ago, but sometimes still used it, for nostalgic reasons or when they were just simply bored. "My momma said that he's got the flu and that he can't come over and play anymore, 'least 'till he gets better."

Pulling himself up with his hands clasped behind his thighs, Sora sent her an incredulous look. "But Riku doesn't get sick!" he protested, sliding back down and placing his hands on the ground and flipping back off the bar, landing in a neat crouch. "No, seriously. He hasn't been sick in years."

She stuck her tongue out at him, still swinging back and forth, her legs tucked under her to keep them from dragging. "Obviously he does, dummy. Everyone gets sick sometime, even Riku." Kairi shrugged, kicking her feet out and leaning back, her hair flying out behind her as she swung. "And guess what."

His hands clasped behind his neck, he watched the girl swing, her purple skirt and white shirt a stark contrast to her bright red hair and skin tanned from hours outside. "What?"

Leaning up at the peak, she leapt off with a flourish, landing in front of him with a bright grin and poked him in the head. "S'Friday, duh." Kairi watched as his eyes widened comically, face pale as he patted his pockets for money. "I figured you'd forget. Here." Out of a small pocket, she drew out the money it took to buy the frozen treat, and placed it in his palm. "Go, before he really thinks you forgot. You can pay me back later."

Relieved beyond all reason, he kissed her cheek quickly and then waved a goodbye, running off to the ice-cream store as fast as he could, still in disbelief that he forgot. As quickly as was humanly possible, he ran into the ice-cream store and waved a greeting to the woman standing behind the counter. The bag was already sitting there waiting for him and with a rushed goodbye, he was off again, the bell jingling brightly behind him.

Sora shifted his weight from foot to foot as he waited anxiously for someone to answer the door, relieved when he saw Riku's father standing there, eyebrow raised. Wilting a little at the look, he hoped that the older man would let him in."Riku's sick, Sora, it's not a very good idea to go up there; you don't want to get sick too."

Putting on the best pout that he could, Sora held the ice-cream up. "But it's Friday! And I don't _get_ sick either! Please?"

Blue-green eyes so like Riku's own rolled and he stepped aside, letting the brunet run in and toe his shoes off, throwing a thanks over his shoulder as the older man closed the door.

Sora knocked on the wood door, listening for his friend as intently as he could and barely managing to smother a laugh at the sound of Riku's voice. "What?" The older boy asked, and Sora pushed open the door, shaking the bag promisingly and then pausing when he saw Riku. The older boy did look rather awful; he was pale, eyes a little glassy and simply _tired_ looking. "Shut up, I'm sick."

"You look like crap," Sora said helpfully, coming over to sit on Riku's bed anyway, getting out his ice-cream and the spoon and handing it over. "How long have you been sick?"

Opening up the package and spooning a mouthful in as quick as he could, Riku sank back against the pile of pillows with a soft noise of contentment as the coldness made his throat stop hurting for a moment. "'bout a day. It started last night. You shouldn't be here, you'll get sick too." Riku sniffled and then took another bite, pulling the covers around him a little more. "Being sick sucks."

Sora laughed, white teeth flashing in a huge grin. "Your mom would wash your mouth out if she heard you saaaay that," he teased, waving his spoon about and almost dropping the ice-cream onto Riku's sheets. Shoving the spoon in his mouth, he grinned goofily around it. "Oofps."

"You're a doofus," Riku muttered, no malice in his tone, far used to the antics of his friend to even be surprised by them anymore. He finished off the rest of the ice-cream, watching Sora swallow the last of his with a content sound, licking his lips. Then, oh-so-gracefully, he sprawled out on Riku's bed and hit his head on the other boy's knee, yelping and clutching his head with a scowl. "Nice."

"Shut up," Sora muttered, sticking his tongue out and turning onto his stomach, resting his forearms on Riku's knees and sitting his chin on top of that. "You better get better fast."

Reaching out, Riku took the plastic spoon and container from Sora and dumped them into the small trash can sitting next to his bed, half-full of tissues. "I'll get better when I do. I feel better, s'just that," he paused, fumbling for a tissue, sneezing and then snuggling back into pillows with a pathetic, stuffed-up groan. "I hate being sick."

Sora patted Riku's knee sympathetically, blue eyes watching the boy carefully.

They were quiet for a long time, save for the mutters of annoyance about being sick and the soft laughter of Sora. "Sora, your mother wants you home for dinner," Riku's mother called from downstairs, followed by the sound of the door closing and her speaking with Riku's dad.

The older teen looked decidedly queasy at the thought of any kind of food, making a face and sighing. "You'd better go, you don't wanna get sick." Riku watched Sora sigh dramatically and roll off the bed easily, arms propped up on his hips. "I'll talk to you later, don't worry."

Pursing his lips as if there was something else that he wanted to say, Sora gave up and nodded. "Alright, well get better, 'kay? You owe me a sword fight." Sora reached over and tucked Riku in, ignoring the flush that rose on Riku's cheeks at the move; it was probably the fever. With one final cursory glance and a quick push of his hands to make sure every inch of Riku was tucked in, he patted the other boy on the head and waved a quick goodbye.

---

Sora curled up on the bed, fingers tugging the blankets around him a little more and burying his face in the pillow. He missed them, so, _so_ much. It wasn't fair that everything had happened, it wasn't fair their home was gone, his friends were gone, that he had this _stupid_ Keyblade. Groaning into the pillow, he kicked off his shoes and let one leg hang off of the bed. He was exhausted, even if he didn't want to admit it in front of his new friends.

The loud dinging of the huge clock tower outside made Sora realize it was eleven, on Friday. Another groan and he let himself fall asleep, hoping things would be better if he just slept for the rest of his life.

-

"Sora, wake up!" Donald complained, wing poking Sora in the face impatiently. "You've got something sitting on the table and it'll melt if you don't get up."

Confused, Sora opened one eye and felt his breath catch when he realized what it was that was lying on the bedside table. "It's Friday, isn't it," he said quietly, reaching out and taking the small container of ice-cream, heart aching so fiercely that it was a wonder that it didn't just fall out of his chest.

Goofy tilted his head to the side as if confused by the melancholy tone of Sora's voice, but nodded. "Ahyuck, I dunno, but what makes you say that?" he asked, paws in his pockets and weight shifting from left to right. A little part of him was worried that ice-cream was randomly appearing in Sora's room, but one look at the brunet's face made him not point it out.

"Never mind," Sora responded, reaching out and taking the frozen treat, breath catching when he realized that it was new enough that the water hadn't even started to condense on the outside. _Riku…_

---

"Have you seen Riku?" Kairi asked, walking down the dock and perching on top of one of the crude wooden benches. Sora swam over, diving under the water and then surfacing a few feet away, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. "He said he had homework but I haven't seen him at all and he wasn't at his house."

Of course. Sora pursed his lips and blinked water out of his eyes, already knowing where the older teen would be. "So he's not just acting weird around me?" He rested his elbows on the dock and his chin down on top of his arms. "Awesome."

Laughing quietly, Kairi pushed her hair behind her ears and nudged him with the toe of her shoe. "Oh, _sarcasm_," she said with amusement, reaching out a hand for him to take. "It's lunch time anyway; are you hungry?"

Was he hungry? The recent development of Riku simply avoiding the two of them had been painful at first but he'd grown used to it and hadn't pressed the issue, for Riku's sake. Still, the random vanishing times worried him; part of him still wanted to keep both Riku and Kairi pressed to his side as much as possible in case something would happen again that might separate them. "Nah, not really." Sora took her hand, pulling himself up onto the deck and dripping water everywhere. "Wait, were you going to pay? Free food?"

Smirking at him, she poked his chest and then threw the towel at his face. "You mooch off of everyone you know that? You've got so much munny from your travels and you still manage to-"

Rushing close, Sora wrapped his arms around her in a big hug, dripping wet and pressing his cheek to her hair, making sure to soak as much of her as he could in one moment. Shrieking with surprise, Kairi smacked his back as hard as she could, glaring at the sky as Sora laughed loudly, making sure to get every inch of her as drenched as possible. "Aw, Kairi, why are you so _mean?_" he asked, drawing back and dodging her hands as she waved out and tried to hit him. "Good thing you're not wearing white."

"You're a _jerk_," she hissed, covering her chest with her crossed arms and kicking him in the shin just to see him wince. There was no actual venom in her words, however. Rolling her eyes when Sora grinned cheekily at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, she let him walk beside her as they headed back to his house. The towel he set down on the fence to dry; Kairi sprawled out on the swinging chair on their porch as she waited for him to get changed so they could get some lunch. A few minutes later she could hear him call a goodbye to one of his parents before he came back outside wearing a simple black tank top and red and blue shorts. His hair was still dripping but nothing could make those spikes disappear. "C'mon, stupid."

"Oh, oh _ow_." Sora clutched his chest and made croaking noises, falling to his knees dramatically. "You're so mean to me, calling me all these names and-"

Rolling her eyes, she reached out and tugged at a spike before making her way down off the porch and onto the small path in his front yard. "Lunch, come on."

Grinning, he got up and trotted after her, his arms swinging absently as they walked. They didn't talk about anything particularly important: mostly about school, their families and avoiding the subject of how Riku seemed to be avoiding them so intentionally. Coming up upon Riku's house, Sora paused, lips turning down a little with disappointment as he tried to think of a way to get things back to some kind of normal where all three of them hung out instead of one or two of them at a time.

"Sora…" Kairi came up behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder, turning his attention from the house over to her. "It's Friday, you know?"

Eyes going wide, Sora realized what she meant after a moment of confusion. One boyishly strong hug and a whispered thanks and he was off, on his way to the ice cream shop that he hadn't been to in years. It was to his surprise and disappointment that the door didn't ring when he came in, nor was the kindly older woman working. The décor had been changed, and a bored looking teen was now running the counter.

"What can I getcha?" she asked, popping her gum with a loud crack. Sora ordered, one strawberry and one chocolate as what had been the usual, paid her and then wished her a good day before going back outside and making his way over to Riku's house. It wasn't on time, but wasn't the saying better late than never?

The steps back to Riku's house were smaller than he remembered and it took less time as well. His legs were longer now; his steps quicker and surer than they had been when he was little. It was at that moment, staring down at his shoes, Sora realized some of why Riku was acting so odd.

They had been forced to grow up so much faster than anyone else on the Islands. They had fought for their lives, fought against each other, fought for each other. They had seen worlds devoured by Darkness, friends hurt- everything that they, as fourteen and fifteen year olds, never thought they would see. And now, they came back and everything was different- _wrong_ in a way. Everything that they remembered from their childhood wasn't the same. He could identify with wanting things back the way they were.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the melancholy mood, Sora knocked on the door and grinned up at Riku's mother, small-talking his way into Riku's house and upstairs. Not bothering to knock, Sora breezed in; taking in the sight of Riku sprawled out on his bed, asleep. A slightly goofy smile curled his lips at the way Riku was laying, looking like he was years younger when he was asleep. The ice-cream melting in his hands made him realize that standing there like an idiot would do him no good. "Riku, wake up," he cooed, reaching over and pressing the cold container to the back of Riku's neck and grinning smugly when the older boy drew in a sharp breath and jerked awake, glaring. "Think fast."

Riku caught the container of ice-cream and blinked with confusion, eyes still vaguely unfocused with sleep and hair a mess. "What-" he started, squinting at the container and then cutting himself off.

"It's Friday," Sora said breezily, jumping up beside the older boy and then scooting down just a little so he was comfortable. "You've been avoiding us."

"I have not," Riku protested a little weakly, but sank down so they were shoulder-to-shoulder using his headboard as a backrest. The look Sora sent him made him turn his attention back to his ice-cream and open it. "Things aren't the same."

A little surprised at how it took no coaxing to get the older boy to talk, Sora moved closer and took a bite. "They won't be, stupid," he said sagely, waving his spoon before digging it back into the dessert. "But they'll be better than before."

Raising an eyebrow, Riku glanced over. "How do you know?" he asked quietly, glancing down when a spiky head rested on his shoulder. "Sora…"

"Because I said so," Sora said, his voice confident as he took another bite, thoroughly unconcerned with personal space. "You know what?"

"Hm?"

"We seem like a couple of girls." He grinned, elbowing the other boy. "If we start talking about hair and stuff then I'm gonna leave."

Vaguely amused now and comfortable in a way that only Sora could make him, Riku shot him a hesitant smile. "Hair wasn't on the list of things to talk about. I didn't even think you would come over."

Sora elbowed him and settled back against the bed as he polished off the rest of the treat around the same time as Riku. Both of the containers were thrown away into the trash can leaving Riku to sprawl back out on his bed and Sora to give up doing the same so he could use the older teen's stomach as a pillow.

The position wasn't exactly comfortable; they had both outgrown their beds a while back but it took only a bit of shifting, elbows and knees hitting each other, snickers escaping both until they settled back down. Arching his back and stretching, Sora closed his eyes, a little amused when one of Riku's hands came up to fiddle with brunet hair, fingers playing with unruly spikes absently. "No more distancing yourself," the younger boy said quietly, taking the chance and reaching up to curl their fingers together. He expected anger or a little fear as a response; Riku reached in neither way, instead making a soft noise of contentment and squeezing his fingers gently.

* * *

For those of you who were like, 'what, no definite Riku/Sora? D:' There is this:

* * *

Sora buried his face a little more into the covers and grabbed at the arm that was draped across his waist, tugging it over and curling into the warmth. "Morning," he greeted sleepily, the word half muffled by Riku's shoulder. There was no response; Riku only curled a little more, draping over the brunet and sighing. "Do I get ice-cream?"

Letting out a cross between a snort and a laugh, Riku opened one sleepy eye and regarded him for a short moment before his eyes closed again. "What about me, hm? I'm always buying you ice-cream." He shivered as Sora's cold toes touched his bare leg and shifted away a little bit. "It's been four years of ice-cream; I think one Friday we can be a little late. Unless it's a makeup gift. Did you do anything?"

A grin curled Sora's lips as he pulled away, shivering at the warm, solid weight of Riku's hand on his hip. Carefully, he reached over and rifled through the contents of their drawers, coming back with something he wouldn't let Riku see. "So suspicious," he chided, moving back over and propping himself up over his best friend in the whole world. Gently he took a hold of Riku's hand and tugged it up, showing the other man what he held. "Should I just give it to you so I don't have to ask and you don't feel like a girl?"

Acting mildly offended but really ridiculously pleased inside, Riku pretended to think about it, even as he let Sora slip the ring on his finger. "I suppose we can let you not be the girl for a day," he said thoughtfully, thumb sliding over the metal band on his finger as Sora laughed quietly, kissing his cheek. "Just for today."

"Mmhm, of course."

--

Edit; screw you ffn for not putting in my page breaks.

I feel like in some parts I told without detail and in others, it didn't flow right, but Carly's waited like a really, really long time lol so I figured I'd post it after trying to catch everything. Reviews are lovely and feedback is awesome. Same old thing, if you favorite, like, read/whatever, leave a review for the author? (Not just me, but all of them. It makes our daaay)


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